Vaccine hesitancy and mistrust of medicine and science dominate current discourse around disparities in who is currently receiving COVID-19 vaccines, a potentially lifesaving prevention strategy. Mistrust of medicine and science is based in a long and sordid history of unethical practice and research on African American, Latinx, Indigenous, and Asian American populations in this country. … Continued

  Giselle Corbie-Smith, MD, MSc, Director of the UNC Center for Health Equity Research, was a panelists on WRAL’s “On the Record” Overcoming vaccine reluctance. The panel, led by Lena Tillett, discussed the roots of vaccine hesitancy and refusal and how to overcome these challenges.   https://www.wral.com/on-the-record-march-13-2021-overcoming-vaccine-reluctance/19578416/

A coronavirus variant was detected for the first time inside a U.S. prison. https://www.nytimes.com/live/2021/02/11/world/covid-19-coronavirus/a-coronavirus-variant-was-detected-for-the-first-time-inside-a-us-prison

Mara Buchbinder, PhD, Associate Professor in the Department of Social Medicine, authored an opinion piece titled, “Society’s End-of-Life Problem,” which was published February 10 on the website of Scientific American.

The Coronavirus Vaccine Presents a Dilemma for Pregnant Women https://www.newyorker.com/science/medical-dispatch/the-coronavirus-vaccine-presents-a-dilemma-for-pregnant-women

Jill A. Fisher, is professor of social medicine in the Center for Bioethics at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The novel coronavirus and its devastating effects have starkly exposed U.S. racial and ethnic health disparities. For access to article click here

UNC School of Medicine’s Lauren Brinkley-Rubinstein co-wrote an opinion piece on CNN.com with Senator Elizabeth Warren and Kathryn Nowotny, a sociologist at the University of Miami. Brinkley-Rubinstein and Nowotny are co-founders of the COVID Prison Project. For access to article click here

Rebecca Walker, PhD, campus profile in Carolina Alumni Review (pp. 26-27) “Ethics at the Forefront”. https://alumni.unc.edu/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/carolinaalumnireview20201112-dl.pdf  

Understanding the Well-Being of LGBTQI+ Populations reviews the available evidence and identifies future research needs related to the well-being of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and intersex populations across the life course. This report focuses on eight domains of well-being; the effects of various laws and the legal system on SGD populations; the effects of various … Continued

NEJM Interview with Dr. Jonathan Oberlander on health reform and the 2020 elections. Jonathan Oberlander is a professor of social medicine and health policy and management at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Stephen Morrissey, the interviewer, is the Executive Managing Editor of the Journal. https://www.nejm.org/action/showMediaPlayer?doi=10.1056%2FNEJMdo005872&aid=10.1056%2FNEJMp2028380&area=